To G. H. K. Thwaites 29 December 1868

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Dec 29. 1868

My dear Thwaites

It is extremely kind in you & your friends to take so much trouble about the fowls.¹ If you have not the pure breed the results will of course be doubtful; & I am unwilling to believe that Blyth & Layard were both mistaken.² I sh^d much like to hear whether the males of the black chickens spoken of by Mr Layard, undergo any change when they become adult.³ I have been very glad to see Mr Glenie’s letter;⁴ & shd you have any opportunity I hope you will return to him & to Mr Layard my sincere thanks

I am astonished at what Mr Glenie says about the elephants not contracting the orbicular muscle, for I & others saw this contraction plainly when the elephants trumpeted loudly in the Zool. gardens— Perhaps too great a contraction is expected.⁵

I received some time ago a very interesting & beautiful specimen from you shewing a surprizing difference in the form of the leaves.⁶

With very many thanks for all your kindness | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Footnotes

1

Thwaites’s friends Charles Peter Layard and Samuel Owen Glenie sent CD observations on a variety of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) fowl (see letter to G. H. K. Thwaites, 19 May [1868], letter from C. P. Layard to G. H. K. Thwaites, 28 July 1868, and letter from S. O. Glenie, 27 November 1868).

2

CD refers to comments by Edward Blyth and Edgar Leopold Layard on the difficulty in finding cocks of the black-skinned (black-boned) fowl found in Ceylon. See letter to G. H. K. Thwaites, 28 September [1868] and n. 3.

3

In his letter to Thwaites of 28 July 1868, C. P. Layard had reported owning two cocks with characteristics that E. L. Layard considered peculiar to the female bird.

4

See letter from S. O. Glenie to G. H. K. Thwaites, [before 31 October 1868].

5

See letter from S. O. Glenie to G. H. K. Thwaites, [before 31 October 1868].

6

See letter from G. H. K. Thwaites, 16 October 1868 and n. 1.